ALBA Bank opens in Cuba

The Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA, in Spanish) opened its first bank yesterday in Cuba. The ALBA trade alliance- consisting of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia- will start with nearly $1 billion in assets and can fund development projects throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

The ALBA Bank was masterminded by Hugo Chavez and formed during a summit in January. According to one Venezuelan official, the bank is designed to compliment with another multilateral economic body promoted by Chavez: the Bank of the South.

(Vice-minister for Financing and Development Gustavo Hernandez) denied the project would compete with the Bank of the South, an initiative of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez designed to be an alternative to multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which according to Caracas are overly influenced by Washington.

"We want to work internationally in a financial framework that allows us to build a type of cooperation and innovation based on other criteria," he said.

Aside from the ALBA, Venezuela and Bolivia are part of the Bank of the South along with Brazil, Uruguay, and Paraguay.

Image- Christian Science Monitor (“A presence: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez presides over the first Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) Summit in 2007.”)

Sources- International Herald Tribune, Prensa Latina, Guardian UK, The Latin Americanist, BusinessWeek